Target cups in ten pin configuration and projector having force varying capability

ABSTRACT

An aerial bowling game has a target assembly with open receptacles arranged in a tenpin configuration and an upright backboard behind the receptacles to deflect a projectile into a desired of the receptacles according to the skill of the player. An improved catapult-type projectile launcher tosses the projectile toward the target assembly with a preselected force, the scoring of the game closely following that of bowling. The launching catapult arm is biased to vary the force of launch. An independent biasing element is also supplied to hold the launching arm in place by a trigger member.

' llmted States Patent 1191 1111 3,794,325

Stender Feb. 26, 1974 [54] TARGET CUPS 1N TEN PIN 2,520,460 8/1950 Ford124/7 CONFIGURATION AND PROJECTOR 1,785,876 12/1930 Pilates.... 124/7HAVING FORCE VARYING CAPABILITY 3721136 0/1887 Fouts 124/7 [76]inventor: fi i g k T 585? Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham urora 0 7Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind [22] Filed: Aug. 12, 1971 Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Ancel W. Lewis, Jr.

[21] Appl. No.: 171,087

v [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl... 273/101, 124/7, 273/105 R, A i l b ligame ha a target assembly with 124/36 open receptacles arranged in atenpin configuration [Sl] Int. Cl A631) 71/02 a d a u right backboardbehind the receptacles to Field h--- 102 11,102 5,105 R, deflect aprojectile into a desired of the receptacles 17, 36 according to theskill of the player. An improved catapult-type projectile launchertosses the projectile References Clted toward the target assembly with apreselected force,

' I .UNITED STATES PATENTS the scoring of the game closely followingthat of bowl- 3,306,615 2/1967 Tack 273/105 R 1 9 The launching t p isbiased t y the 1,279,654 9/1918 Charlesworth 124/7 force of launch AnIndependent biasing element is 1,439,199 12/1922 Spilman 'also suppliedto hold the launching arm in place by a 1,912,360 6/1933 Blanchard124/36 trigger member. 7 3,103,362 9/1963 Elofson.... 273/105 R 214,9624/1879 Smith 124/7 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 44 47 I L. -4 l 4 "IIIH46 l PAIENIEB EM 3.794325 sumznrz FIG.\

FIG, 2 4

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS PATENTED FEBZB I974 sum 2 or 2 FIG.4

.jectile such as a ball which is launched through the air from a pointremote from the receptacles with the scoringbeing based on the skill ofthe player.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide novel gameapparatus including an improved catapulttype launcher for launchinga'projectile such as a lightweight plastic ball.

In accordance with the present invention in a preferred form there isprovided a target assembly including removable cup-like receptaclesarranged in a'bowl- ,ing tenpin configuration on a base having anupright deflector plate positioned rearwardly of the receptacles todeflect the projectile into the receptacles, and a catapult-typelauncher with an adjustable force applying arm and a one-hand latchingfeature positioned at a preselected distance and remote from the targetreceptacle assembly adapted to launch a projectile toward thereceptacles. r Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the presentinvention will become more readily appreciated and understood from thefollowing detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which: i

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of aerial bowling game apparatusembodying features-of thepresent invention;

F IG. 2 is a perspective view of the target assembly illustrated withthe receptacles removed from the receptacle base and the deflector platein a partially raised position above the receptacle base, together witha packaging cover shown in an elevated position above the base with aportion broken away to show interior parts; g

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the target assembly with the receptacles inplace thereon;

FIG. 4 is'a sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 with only afragment of thedeflectorplate being shown; g

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the target assembly with only a'portion of the base being shown;

FIG. 6 is atop plan view of the catapult-type projectile launcher; and IFIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the launchershown in FIG. 6 with theraised position of the'catapult arm shown in dashed lines.

Referring now to the drawings, the game apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is ina position for playing and in general includes a target assembly 11 anda projectile launcher 12 in the same horizontal plane and in alignmentwith the receptacle assembly adapted to project a ball or otherprojectile 13 toward the target assembly 11 which may be in a trajectoryposition represented by dashed lines 14. In the play of the game thescoring is much like that of conventional bowling, as is described fullyhereinafter. I

The target assembly 11 comprises a base member 20 having spaced upperand lower parallel walls 21 and 22, respectively, held apart by fourside walls 23, the inner wall being provided with a plurality of holesor apertures 24 arranged in a tenpin configuration.

A downwardly tapered cup-like receptacle 26 inserts,

into each hole 24 and is sized to frictionally engage the edges of thetop wall defining the hole to be held firmly thereby with the bottom ofthe receptacle resting on the bottom wall 22 for added support. Thisallows the receptacles to be removed when the game is ended and bestacked together in a nesting relation to one another. Each receptaclein the hole represents a scoring station and the scoring stations arenumbered with numerals from one through ten, inclusive, which correspondwith that of the tenpins in a bowling game.

The number one scoring station is in a centered forwardmost position,the two and three scoring stations are in a second row behind the firststation, the four, five, and six scoring stations are in a third rowbehind the second row, the seven, eight, nine and ten scoring stationsare in'a fourth row. The numbering of the stations is from left to rightas viewed from the'front of the assembly, asis the case for conventionalbowling;

A backboard o r deflector plate 27 is pivotally mounted along the backside edge-of the upper wall shown as being held by one or more suitablehinges represented by a single hinge at 28. The backboard will pivotfrom a collapsed horizontal position directly above the upper wall 21when the receptacles have been removed to an upright or verticalposition during the play of the game. It is understood that aplastic-type hinge may be used by making the base and backboard of amolded plastic one-piece construction. A cover lid means of a pair ofspaced upstanding lugs 33 and 34 and a pivot pin 35 secured to the armand extending between and supported by the lugs so that the arm 32 willswing from a horizontally disposed latched'position shown in full linestoa generally upright position as represented by dashed lines 32athrough an arc of about The raised position of the arm is limited by anuppercross-pin 36 extending through the upper end portions of lugs 33and 34.

, The catapult arm 32 has a circular dish-shaped member 37 mounted onthe upper surface at the rear end thereof which makes it suitable forsupporting and releasing the ball-type projectile 13. Ball 13 preferablyis hollow and of a relatively lightweight plastic construction. The rearend of the catapult arm is releasably held in a latched position bymeans of a latching trigger 39. The latching trigger 39 is pivotallymounted on the base by means of a pivot pin 41 supported in a recess 31aformed by spaced parallel wallsections in a central area at the rear ofthe base. The trigger 39 has a flat down over the trigger so that thecatapult may be set I pins 48 fixedly mounted on the base on each sideof the arm. Pins 48 incline forwardly to prevent accidental slippage orrelease of the band. A plurality of the pins 48 are provided lengthwiseof the base to adjust the tension in the trigger. The band 46 biases thetrigger forwardly to the closed position but allows it to be movedrearwardly to a released position by depressing a flat actuating buttonportion 49 at the rear upper end of the trigger. The force holdingthe-trigger is adjustable by selecting the size and strength of therubber band and by providing a number of pairs of pins'48 at intervalsalong the top of the base.

The force to swing the catapult arm 32 is supplied by a second rubberband 51 which extends from a notch 52 in the top of the lugs rearwardlyand under a selected notch 53 in the underside of the arm 32. Severalslots 53 are provided at spaced intervals along the arm to provideselective adjustable launching forces. From the foregoing it is apparentthat the launcher 12 may readily be made by molding from a plasticmaterial and that the entire apparatus may be made at a moderate costgreatly enhancing the commercial possibilities thereof. Y

In the preferred play of the game, each player gets the same number ofballs 13 as in regular tenpin bowling and uses a score card marked withsquares indicating a number of frames which is the same as in bowling.The play may be a single, doubles or teams, etc. The player may shootall ten frames at once or alternate frames. A preferred arrangement forscoring of the game is to have the player land in scoring station numberone to score a strike. lf'the player lands in a three, seven, or nine,etc., he scores that number for the first ball in that frame. On thesecond ball the player cannot score a strike but must land in a cupwhose number combines with the first ball to equal ten or over to scorea spare. For example, if the first ball was number five, the second ballmust be a number five, six, seven, eight,

' nine or ten. A ten on the second ball is automatically a spare. If afour or less is shot, the spare is not counted and the total of the twoballs is scored. On'a first ball, the number one scoring stationis astrike. Scoring station number ten on the first ball is counted as one.On the second ball, the scoring station ten is a spare and the firstscoring station is counted as one. A miss on any ball is not shot again.

Although the invention has been described with reference to preferredand alternate forms thereof, it will be appreciated that variousmodifications and changes may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention as set forth in the accompanyingclaims.

What'is claimed is: 1. Aerial bowling game apparatus comprising: atarget assembly including a plurality of cup-like receptacles arrangedin a tenpin configuration, and a base member, said receptacles beingremovable mounted in aperatures in the base member and including adeflector plate pivotally mounted on the back of the base member toswing between a horizontal position and an upright position, a ball-likeprojectile, and a catapult-type launcher device positioned a prese-'lected distance from the target assembly and in alignment therewithadapted to toss the projectile through the air toward the targetassembly to be deflected from the deflector plate into a desired one ofthe receptacles, said launcher device including a base, a catapult armpivotally mounted on the base having trigger means to releasably latchthe catapult arm in a horizontal position, and adjustable resilientbiasing means to swing the catapult forwardly upon the release of thetrigger, said base being wider at the rear and tapers inwardly towardthe front, said base having spaced parallel upright lugs at the frontwith a lower pivot pin for pivotally supporting said catapult 'arm andan upper crosspin on the lugs for limiting the forward movement of saidcatapult arm. 2. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 1wherein the biasing means for the catapult arm is a rubber band. i

3. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including arubber band to releasably latch said trigger means. t

4. Aerial bowling game apparatus comprising: a target assembly includinga plurality of cup-like receptacles arranged in a tenpin configuration,said receptacles being removably mounted in apertures in a base memberand including a deflector plate pivotally mounted on the back of thebase member to swing between a-horizontal position and an uprightposition, a t a ball-like projectile, and

catapult-type launcher device positioned a preselected distance from thetarget assembly and in alignment therewith adapted to toss theprojectile through the air toward the target assembly to be deflectedfrom the deflector plate into a desired one of said receptacles, saidlauncher device including a base wider at the rear and tapering inwardlyfrom the frontwith upright lugs at the front and a pivot pin adapted topivotally support a catapult arm to swing between a horizontal and anupright position, a resilient band extending from the .lugs and througha selected slot in the underside of the catapult arm to swing thecatapult arm forwardly with a desired force, a trigger pivotally mountedat the back of said base, and aresilient band secured in a slot in thetop'of said trigger and extending forwardly to a point of support on thebase to latch the catapult arm in a latched position whereby upon thedepression of the trigger the catapult arm is released, said trigger andarm having cam surfaces arranged to permit the arm to be moved downagainst the trigger and the forces of the resilient band of the triggerto latch the catapult arm with a single downward motion whereby adepression of the trigger will release the catapult arm.

5. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein saidprojectile is a hollow plastic ball.

* w 4: as

1. Aerial bowling game apparatus comprising: a target assembly including a plurality of cup-like receptacles arranged in a tenpin configuration, and a base member, said receptacles being removable mounted in aperatures in the base member and including a deflector plate pivotally mounted on the back of the base member to swing between a horizontal position and an upright position, a ball-like projectile, and a catapult-type launcher device positioned a preselected distance from the target assembly and in alignment therewith adapted to toss the projectile through the air toward the target assembly to be deflected from the deflector plate into a desired one of the receptacles, said launcher device including a base, a catapult arm pivotally mounted on the base having trigger means to releasably latch the catapult arm in a horizontal position, and adjustable resilient biasing means to swing the cataPult forwardly upon the release of the trigger, said base being wider at the rear and tapers inwardly toward the front, said base having spaced parallel upright lugs at the front with a lower pivot pin for pivotally supporting said catapult arm and an upper cross-pin on the lugs for limiting the forward movement of said catapult arm.
 2. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the biasing means for the catapult arm is a rubber band.
 3. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a rubber band to releasably latch said trigger means.
 4. Aerial bowling game apparatus comprising: a target assembly including a plurality of cup-like receptacles arranged in a tenpin configuration, said receptacles being removably mounted in apertures in a base member and including a deflector plate pivotally mounted on the back of the base member to swing between a horizontal position and an upright position, a ball-like projectile, and a catapult-type launcher device positioned a preselected distance from the target assembly and in alignment therewith adapted to toss the projectile through the air toward the target assembly to be deflected from the deflector plate into a desired one of said receptacles, said launcher device including a base wider at the rear and tapering inwardly from the front with upright lugs at the front and a pivot pin adapted to pivotally support a catapult arm to swing between a horizontal and an upright position, a resilient band extending from the lugs and through a selected slot in the underside of the catapult arm to swing the catapult arm forwardly with a desired force, a trigger pivotally mounted at the back of said base, and a resilient band secured in a slot in the top of said trigger and extending forwardly to a point of support on the base to latch the catapult arm in a latched position whereby upon the depression of the trigger the catapult arm is released, said trigger and arm having cam surfaces arranged to permit the arm to be moved down against the trigger and the forces of the resilient band of the trigger to latch the catapult arm with a single downward motion whereby a depression of the trigger will release the catapult arm.
 5. Aerial bowling game apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein said projectile is a hollow plastic ball. 